


Through Sea and Sky

by Nuke



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Main Video Game Series)
Genre: Don't kid yourselves you know what this is, People who don't know me are not reading this
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-07
Updated: 2020-12-07
Packaged: 2021-03-10 06:20:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 3,908
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27929644
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nuke/pseuds/Nuke
Summary: A girl chosen by the sea is sick of the stone walls around her. She'd like to say "not all who wander are lost", but she definitely is, most of the time. Perhaps with some trustworthy friends by her side, she'll get the hang of it. Her energy can be a bit much at times, and not even a mysterious Absol nor a foolhardy detective can keep her totally in line. But maybe they'll get the hang of her.[Chapters of varying lengths. Lots of ground to cover here. Chapters with titles indicate the beginning of an 'arc'.]
Kudos: 1





	1. Prologue

Those who knew the creature sleeping on the seabed called her ancient. One who lived before the world, they'd say, and one who could destroy it. It was destined to fight and fight until the end of times, unless the fight was stopped...

But this creature knew what it was. Not "it", but "she". And she knew her name. Not the name they called her - _Kyogre_ \- but something different. Unfortunately, no one spoke her language.

No one except that little human. The tiny little thing she found one terrible stormy day, sinking to the bottom of the sea. She had called out to the human, and heard a response - _amazing!_ Someone responding to her! And so she saved her.

This Kyogre was young. She knew that the human was around the same age as her. As she pushed the tiny body up onto a sandbar, she wondered if other humans said strange things about this little one, too. Did they think she was something she could never become?

When the little human stirred, the much larger Kyogre was startled and retreated back into the water, only her snout exposed. Two tiny blue eyes were staring at her.

"It's okay," said a little voice she somehow understood. "Don't be scared."

The Kyogre was baffled, and got closer. She had seen many humans, but this was the smallest one, she thought, that had ever lived. And here it was, just saved from the turbulent waves, smiling and calling to her.

Up on the sandbar, Kyogre shivered when the warm little hand touched her.

"Your name is Lahara?" The little girl asked, smiling. "That's a pretty name. I'm Nuke."

Kyogre liked that name, too, and told her so. She wanted to say some things, and ask even more, but a horrible sound came from a horizon.

A boat horn.

When the little girl turned to look, Kyogre flung herself backwards and disappeared into the sea.


	2. Sootopolis

The city had walls. Towering slabs of white rock surrounded every living thing in it, leaving the sky as only a cut-out circle. It kept out anything terrible, and left its inhabitants safe.

Sootopolis City, as it was called, was considered a paradise. The city was modern in every other way beside its walls, and despite them it was always filled with tourists. They wanted to know the city's rich history, about that mysterious Cave of Origin that no one could enter... The one always guarded by one from the Sootopolitan tribe.

They were the original inhabitants of the city, standing tall and lithe with shining blue locks of hair. Too many years ago, others began living in the city, but the tribe never wanted to intermingle with them  _too_ much. They were quite proud of their untouched heritage, though they were never unfriendly to the new residents.

The  _de facto_ leader of the city was a Sootopolitan man named Weylan, though he disliked the job and it held no real power. They called him "Chief", and he hated the antiquity of it. What he hated most, though, was that he had taken over the role from his elder sister.

Standing outside the Cave of Origin for his guard shift, prattling on to a group of tourists, he sighed as he counted the years since their old Chief had disappeared. Nearly ten, at that point.

When he caught a sight of something familiar, he stumbled in his practiced speech only a moment before finishing the thought. Then with another sigh he grabbed the communicator and whispered into it: "She's at it again."

The city was mostly popular in recent days due to its Gym. The Leader was a man named Juan, who loved and respected his position. Though, if he was being honest, it made him a bit uncomfortable. He truly felt that a Sootopolitan should be the Gym Leader, as his family had only lived in the city for a couple of generations.

So he trained an apprentice, Wallace, who spent most of his days with the busy task of looking after the local troublemaker. Always carrying a small device with him, he rolled his eyes when it made a tone. Then he heard the message: "She's at it again."

Wallace headed to the northeast section of the city, to a place tourists avoided. It was rocky and hazardous, and the only thing of note was the wall itself.

The wall that was being climbed, he noted solemnly. He brushed his blue hair out of his face and glared upward at the figure high in the distance.

_"Nuke!"_ He called with only a little disdain. How could he  _really_ be angry at her? He didn't even need to tell her to get down; he knew she wouldn't. He huffed when she just waved back at him and kept climbing.

Luckily, she was visible in her bright red t-shirt, but she was just a speck a few seconds later. A little too quickly she reached the top of the wall and sat herself on it, completely relaxed. 

A small figure that had been clinging to her shoulder swung into her lap.

"You like the view up here, huh Captain?" Nuke patted her Squirtle on the head and smiled into the wind that was tossing her red-brown hair all around her face. "It's quiet up here, except for the water. It's so loud everywhere else."

Wallace shouted again, but knew she couldn't hear him. She'd been climbing the wall more and more in recent days, and it made his father -  _her_ uncle - sick with worry. And sick with annoyance. If the townspeople thought Chief Weylan couldn't even keep his wild niece under control...

But something was different. From what he could barely see, Wallace saw Nuke go incredibly still. Captain peeked his little head over the edge and made wild gestures. Then Nuke herself turned and made signs he didn't understand. So she tried yelling.

The wind just barely carried the word to him:

"Metagross!"


	3. Chapter 3

She knew what it was from a book, she later told Wallace. But presently Nuke was hiding behind her cousin; he was only a couple of years older than her, but much taller.

The stranger in front of both of them was unlike anyone she'd ever seen. His hair was silver and his eyes were a piercing blue. She couldn't take her own dark eyes off of him, until Wallace suddenly jumped forward to hug him.

"Nuke," He said with a grin, turning back to her. "This is Steven! Steven Stone!"

She'd heard the name before, but didn't know what to think. The young man was about Wallace's age, and wearing a very fancy dark suit. Not at all Sootopolis tourist attire, or traveling attire in any way... How did they know each other?

Immediately she regretted asking. It was a lengthy story she mostly tuned out - something about Wallace's Gym Leader training.

"Steven's the Champion," Wallace suddenly said.

That got her attention and she glared at him, not at all believing it. "You're barely older than me," She accused.

Steven laughed with a genuine smile, and spoke with a clear and bright voice. "Who knows what  _you'll_ accomplish, then!"

It was a weird thing to say, and she took a step back.

"He knows all about you," said Wallace, a little sheepish. "Sorry. I forgot he was coming today, or I would have told you."

"Have you ever been outside your city?" Steven asked, blinking his brilliant eyes. "Do you know what it's like out there in Hoenn?"

She listened to him for what felt like hours, but he also asked her questions. Very strange questions that no one had ever asked before.

"Do you want to leave?" He inquired from the seat across the table from her. "See the world? Adventure?"

Nuke didn't know what Wallace had told him; that he knew she was antsy, and couldn't live being cooped up in a city like that. She wanted to explore and see the world. To see her Hoenn.

But the last time she left the city...

"Sorry if this is a sensitive topic," Steven's voice was hushed. "But you lost your parents, right? In a storm?"

She nodded. A storm a decade ago that she didn't remember. ...Mostly.

"I could take you somewhere on a boat. I just needed to know if you were okay with it."

"What about my uncle?" She asked immediately, sitting up. Her eyes were locked on him and nothing else existed. "Boats are fine. My uncle will say no."

"Well, then we won't tell him."

She was instantly relieved by the devious smile on the young man's face. The suit had made her nervous, but she very quickly learned that he understood what she was all about. And it all came together. "Wallace called you here, didn't he?"

"He wants you smuggled out of the city. You're suffocating here."

She just nodded. Her city was beautiful, and she loved it. When she was young, she would say she wouldn't trade it for the world.

But then she climbed to the top of the wall for the first time. It took her years of practice, years of falling, and years of broken bones before she made it. But the feeling... The wind of the wild sea, the sea that covered everything in every direction... it was like nothing she'd ever felt in her life. And she knew she needed to go. She wanted to see it all.

"I don't have a lot of things," She said, glancing down at Captain. "I can pack it all tonight."

Steven's face lit up, and his eyes shimmered.


	4. Chapter 4

"Her mother was just like that," Weylan told his son a few weeks prior, grimacing. "Wanted to explore. Hated being stuck here as the Chief. And that damn sailor,"

Wallace glared, and the older man bit his tongue.

It was a sore subject, Nuke's father. He had come from outside the city one day and stayed for months. When he left, he took Nuke's mother with him. They were gone for some time but finally returned to deliver their baby girl; they wanted her born in the city.

It should have been a wonderful occasion, but the sight of the girl's hair made everyone shudder. She took after her father, whose hair was red. Though the baby's was a bit darker.

She was certainly _no_ Sootopolitan.

And as she grew, she knew it. After her parents died, no one said anything _to_ her, but she could feel it in their stares. In the shaking tones of their voices.

It was what made her want to climb the walls. And now, she finally had.

"If they don't want us," She bitterly grumbled as she packed the last of her things into a small bag. "Then we'll leave. Right, Captain?"

He didn't seem so sure.

* * *

It had been a few years since that storm, she thought. From her place at the bottom of the sea, she felt something. Or  _heard_ something. She couldn't be sure, but it was  _something._ Calling her. Opening her great eyes, she surged to the ocean's surface. Her heart was pounding, and she got perhaps too excited. Energy crackled around her, in the water, and through the air once she hit it.

The sky was dark. She couldn't help it, when she got so worked up. The storm came out of nowhere, swirling around and blocking out everything but the surrounding area.

But she saw it. A boat! A boat! She knew it was the boat, or something on it, calling to her.

She headed toward it at full speed, her great body splitting the waves so much faster than those years ago. She recognized that voice, and oh, how she had missed it.

Steven had traveled all around the world, but even  _he_ had never seen a storm quite like that. It engulfed their small ship and made escape hopeless. He panicked, trying to gain control of the vessel, but found all the controls - and the engine - dead. In desperation he tried shouting over the crashing waves, calling to Nuke, begging her to take shelter inside the cabin.

But she was at the edge of the boat, staring into the sea, mesmerized. Salty foam soaked her hair and she barely noticed. All she could see was a pair of glowing yellow eyes, gazing up at her from below the black, stormy waters. Completely overwhelmed by the noise, she nevertheless whispered the name that had stuck in her mind for over a decade.

And the sea took her.


	5. The Sea

For a submarine, the ship spent a lot of time above the water. Its crew were fine being submerged, but it was easier to track sudden, freak storms when you could see the sky.

The ship's first mate, Shelly, was on watch duty that day. Perched at the highest point, she stared out at the calm seas for as long as she could take. But right before she gave up, she saw something.

With their leader's help, a couple crew members pulled the unconscious girl Shelly had found onto the deck. They gave a couple of nervous nods to the Mantine that had brought her to them, and shuddered when it dove into the water.

"She's alive," Said their leader, listening for her breaths. "All those Pokemon brought her to us."

"She some kind of sea witch?" One of the crew members asked, still shaking. "Where'd she come from?"

Shelly looked back down at the water and saw one Pokemon had remained. It was a small Squirtle that couldn't climb onto the ship by itself. Knowing they weren't at all native to Hoenn, she helped the little one up and wasn't surprised when it ran to the girl.

"What do we do with her, Archie?"

He watched the sleeping girl for a moment, then slipped her arms under her and stood. "We'll keep her. She might be able to help us."

She came to a few hours later, tucked carefully in a warm bed, wearing dry clothes. With Captain in her immediate vision, her unfamiliar surroundings didn't worry her.

"Good morning," Shelly told her from a chair at the bedside. "You gave us quite a scare, showing up like that. Take your time, but we'd like to know a bit about you."

She tried to remember. The ocean... all that water...

Steven!

She shot up and threw the covers off herself, but felt a hand on her chest.

"Easy now. Don't overdo it."

Panic ran through her. Where was Steven? There was a storm, and...

"We didn't find anyone else." Shelly answered the frantic question she barely made out. "Just you. Pokemon brought you to us."

"My name is Nuke," She said, looking at Captain. "I'm from Sootopolis City. I left the city with a man named Steven. I... need to know if he's okay."

Shelly's brow furrowed. "Any more information on him?"

"He has silver hair."

Immediately, she knew who Nuke was talking about. "Sounds like the Champion." Her jaw clenched. "I'm sure he's fine. From what I've heard... that guy's tough."   
Before either of them could say more, the door opened. In the entryway stood a man, tall and imposing with an intense gaze. But his eyes softened when he saw Nuke.

She looked at him nervously.

"Welcome!" He spread his arms and grinned. "I'm Archie. You're aboard the Explorer 1, Team Aqua's main mode of transport!"

"It's a submarine," Shelly elaborated. "We're tracking storms."

"Team Aqua...?" Nuke looked down at her clothes; she was wearing a blue and white striped shirt, and long, gray pants.

"Our uniform." Archie approached the bed and sat down near the end. "We had to get you in some dry clothes. I really am  _so_ glad you're alright!"

Something didn't feel  _quite_ right to Nuke. She remained guarded as Archie started asking her questions, but she gave honest answers. After the grilling, she asked if they would be able to help her find Steven.

Archie's face became serious. "I suppose we could. Though I'm not sure how it'll turn out... But I was wondering if you could help  _us,_ too."

She blinked.

"You see," He began. "About those storms Shelly mentioned..."


	6. Chapter 6

It would have made sense for Nuke to have feared the sea. At that point, she had fallen into it twice. But both times, she thought fondly, she was rescued. So, she felt safe in that submarine, whether she was deep in its belly or out on its deck. All around her was nothing but water, which was a familiar sight. Like home, but with friends.

Team Aqua - her friends. She had spent the last few months with them, traversing the seas and tracking those storms. Nothing had really come of it, but she didn't mind. She'd heard the news she'd been seeking - that Steven was alright.

And he was looking for her.

"Tell him I'm fine." She told the radio operator one day. "Send out a message telling him I'm fine... but also tell him not to search for me. I like it out here."

Archie was glad to have her aboard. Despite her lack of experience, she seemed to have great knowledge of the sea and helped them navigate. Plus, he begrudgingly admitted, he just liked her. She had a bright and shining personality that brought much-needed smiles to the whole crew. Watching her scamper around the deck with her Squirtle was sure to bring a smile to someone's face, even if the day hadn't been going well.

Whenever the crew was board, they would have Pokemon battles to entertain themselves and keep their minds sharp. It wasn't long before Nuke took part in these, and her little Captain was stronger than he let on. Soon after getting the hang of battles, he evolved.

Nuke was a little disappointed that her new Wartortle couldn't ride around on her shoulders, but she was happy for her friend's new strength.

Archie had to agree. Though when he wasn't watching Nuke's antics, he was keeping his eyes to the horizon, waiting for a sign of sudden dark clouds...

* * *

Her hair was so much longer. The bandana tried its best to keep it out of her face. She grimaced at her reflection in the calm sea, leaning over the sub's railing. All the time in the sun had made her freckles come out, though she could barely see them in the water.

From the top of the submarine, Archie was watching her. Over the time she'd been in his company, he'd noticed things she had never mentioned.

When she lowered her hand to the sea, it moved. Sometimes it was the smallest ripple she just didn't see, but sometimes a whole school of Pokemon would appear from the dark depths.

Did she really not notice?

Scowling, he descended the metal ladder and came up quietly behind her.

"Hey, Archie." She said, not looking away from the water.

"Where do you come from, Nuke?" He asked, stern.

"I told you," She turned around. "Sootopolis City."

"And your family?" He was close, suddenly. Uncomfortably close, next to her, leaning on the railing. He wasn't looking at her, but she caught the glint in his eye.

For a few weeks now, she tried to deny it. His eyes looked... sharper. Whenever he looked at her, he scowled. Was she imagining it? She tried to brush it off as his demeanor, but he had changed _so much..._

He was scowling at her for sure, then.

"M-my family?" She stuttered, wanting to take a step back but feeling frozen. "My mother was from the city, but my father-"

"You're Sootopolitan." He said, whirling and grabbing her closest wrist. "That's what the Champion said, when he called for you."

"Steven called for me?" Her heart was pounding and she couldn't think straight. He hadn't told her that!

"Sootopolitans have that connection with the sea, don't they?" His grip was tight, and his eyes blazed with madness. "You can call it, then. Call it to us! The sea _brought_ you here!"

"I don't know what you're talking about!"

Relaxing his grip only slightly, Archie looked up, past the terrified girl. In the distance, a dark cloud was hovering in the sky. It was surging toward them with unnatural speed. He grinned. "Well, here it comes." He forced Nuke to turn around, then shoved her to the far end of the deck. "You've finally brought Kyogre to us."

The word made a shiver run up her spine, and she stared in horror at the approaching storm.

_There was something bad. Very bad. Like fear._

Kyogre didn't quite know what fear felt like. All the other Pokemon revered her, bowing out of her way as she swam past. Nothing ever threatened her. Sometimes she would think of the little human girl, and what it must be like to be so small and defenseless.

Something came through the water. It was like an electrical shock, straight into the Kyogre's mind. She whirled in the direction of it and, for the first time, felt the deepest fear imaginable.

_The little human is in trouble._

She knew it, and went to her.

The submarine jolted.

Archie lost his grip and stumbled, but stayed on his feet. Immediately, he knew, and another grin spread across his face.

Nuke had managed to cling to the railing with her shaking hands. Before she could ask what was happening, the vessel rocked again to the other side.

There were shouts from down below, doors opening, instant chaos. Crew members were yelling for Archie, and the panicked voice of Shelly rang out above them all.

The black clouds were above them. Thunder roared and the sea swelled. The sub was being tossed on the suddenly wild waves, but the _thud_ from down below was unmistakably an impact.

"What's it so angry about?" Archie asked calmly, looking around until his gaze settled on Nuke. "Does it want _you?"_

She froze, still holding onto the railing. It began to rain. Everything was soaked with seafoam, and the only light was from the occasional flash of lightning.

Then Archie saw it - a pair of glowing yellow eyes just beneath the churning surface of the raging sea. He rushed at Nuke and grabbed her before she could react, then peered down at the dark shape beside his ship. "Is this what you want?" He growled, shoving her over the side. "An offering? In return for obedience?"

Nuke desperately struggled to get away, but it was no use. Archie's grip was almost inhumanly strong. The kindness in his eyes had faded long ago. When he glanced at her one final time, the only thing in his solid gaze was cruelty.

With a hopeless cry, she felt herself thrown over the edge.


	7. Chapter 7

She heard the calm sea, and she could breathe. Beneath her was something cold and smooth, but very alive. Her eyes burned with salt but she forced them open, only to see the most brilliant blue. Bluer than the sky.

There was something familiar about it, and comforting, so she closed her eyes again. Her hair stuck to her face and her clothes were soaked, but she could feel the warm sun beating down. Even if she wanted to, she knew she couldn't move from sheer exhaustion. Whatever had happened, she could barely remember, but...

She knew she was safe, atop the back of her friend.


End file.
